Richland County, Ohio - The whole text, 1908 (part 7 of 16)

The pioneers of Richland county have passed away and we today enjoy many utilities that have been brought about since their day and generation. We are benefited by the fruits of their labor and seek to commemorate their great work 'bx celebrating the centennial anniversary of the city they founded. And also to commemorate their services and brave deeds of the soldiers of the war of 1512. who won Victory over their dual foe in the British over the Indians.

"The Soldiers of the War of 1812" was the subject of an excellent address delivered by the Rev. Father Mulhane. of Mount Vernon. an orator who has won recognition all over the country by his lectures on war subjects.

In an address on the subject of "The Old Blockhouse." the Hon. M. B. Bushnell spoke of a 1umber of interesting things in connection with the history of the ancient building.

The part that the woman of pionecr days played in the great drama of American history has in many instances been touched on but lightly. The subject, "Pioneer Women," was treated interestingly in the address of Mrs. Lyman A. Strong, of which the following is a part:

Address By Mrs. Strong

What of the women of pioneer davs - they seem to have been forgotten, so little is written now of their noble deeds and dreadful sacrifices for their loved ones. A few, perhaps, have received the notice due. but what is that in comparison with the pages devoted to the men of pioneer days?

Shall we let the blockhouse, as being the only surviving witness of the horrors of those times. tell us a little story of personal experience and observation ?

And this is what it says to us: "In this peaceful -pot I trust to have come. to rest until the end of my days. and as it is ever with the old, comes back to me the memory of other days."

My first recollections are of opening my eyes on a vast forest surrounded by lurking dangers. xeen and unseen. Many friends Hocked about me. and together we braved the frightful dangers we knew were in store for us. Days and nights there were when was heard the growl of the bear, the snarling ery of the wolf and the -creech of the wild cat: but sure of safety from all these fierce creatures. we slept in peace until high over all sounded the bloodeurdling war whoop of the dreaded Indian. Then wild confusion reigned. Did these pioneer women sit down and weep, or were they up and doing? Busy hands. with incredil.le =peed. loaded heavy guns and many times, with steady aim. sighted and killed the invader. Wounds were dressed with gentle hands and breaking hearts. for. perhaps. mangled and dead by her side lay her clearest. and in her heart the fear of her own dreadful fate. If, in the providence of God. she was spared to see the breaking of day end the horrors of the night and returned to her cabin what comfort had she there to rest her tired frame and anxious mind? There was the breakfast to prepare for famished men and children: a dead log in a cold fireplace to coax with infinite patience into Hame - not the quick heat of the gas jet at her instant convenience. Water must be had only by a rush to the spring, with danger at every step - not had as now in steady stream by the turn of the hand. Corn must be sent on the back of a horse to the rude, little mill and quickly returned in meal. for the great Dutch oven will be heated and ready for the unbaked staff of life. for no cart with tinkling bell will stop before her door to hand out the brown loaf: and when the dreaded night appears, no dazzling light illumes her home with the magic touch of a button, but only a little pan with a lump of grease and a rag for a wick, giving about as much light as a lightning bug, must suffice for her work on the spinning wheel. Her "club" wax composed of a distaff and flax and her "prize" a fine hank of yarn which, when knitted with tired fingers, furnished the family with necessary footwear for the hard winter season. Every article of clothing was spun, woven and made by the mother's own hand.

Nowadays, with fashion's changing styles, almost in pace with the moon, there, perhaps, would be some criticism on the hang of the skirt, the fit of the waist and the absence of the crease on the unmentionable worn by the men, but when "ignorance is bliss," etc., and the garments were accepted, the pioneer woman tailor was never "held up." except for "repairs." Later came the sewing machine and then the "father of all evils' gave to suffering humanity his masterpiece - the "sweat-shop."

What would have been her delight if, at the ring of a bell, the voice of her dearest friend and nearest neighbor a mile away in the howling wilderness should have sounded in her ear for a few moments of gossip on family

We may find many, many instances illustrating the bravery of the pioneer women and their resourceful character in bold acts of heroism equal to that displayed by the Lravest men of any time.

The blockhouse says there were many lives lost before its door, and within its friendly walls three babex opened their eves on the sorrows and troubles of those times, descendants of whom are citizen= of Mansfield now.

More adventurous souls came to the little settlement: more cabins were built; more clearings made and the field- cultivated. and gradually there grew around me a larger band of brave and true men aud women. Soon the little schoolhouse was built. and the merchant came with hix wares and goods, but the blockhouse was still the refuge and protector of the feeble <ettlement. and when in later times the necessity of uxing my shelter passed away and I was called upon for assistance in dispensing justice. I gave the best accommodations I had, which, in comparison with my towering green and red neighbor of today, were limited and very humble. but I can in good faith affirm that the learned justices of mv day never misread the law. juries never disagreed and the law and order leaguex were unknown.

We have tried to picture the life of the pioneer woman and what she accomplished unassisted in her fight with her surroundings. Lut. after all. little do we realize her sacrifices and the bitter ~truggles she endured. The various accomplishments of the very much emancipated woman of thix age are so well written up that further comment seems out of place. but we can dream of the women of the years to come. for we who are now here will, without doubt, be with them in xome shape. not revealed to mortal eves, and rejoice over their grand achievements and sorrow over failures. What a blessing it will seem to housekeepers to know that the dear man has his dinner in his vest pocket - or, perhaps. in a small tin box just at present. but when Christmas comes he is to have a beautiful gift of silver or gold with his monogram. The day of washing will have Jo-t all its terrors. now that it is only to open a door and place the garment in the chamber of compressed air. This same current will with noiseless. unseen brooms obliterate all particles of dust from carpets and furniture. <All will share alike in the bounty of heaven. There will be no vaults filled from oor to ceiling with gold which the owners never see or need. .\ universal style in all things will be adopted, therefore no incentive for competition in owning fine outfits of any description. The atmosphere will be so highly impregnated with the elements of knowledge, wisdom and experience that the child will absorb from the mother and come into the world with a mind full-fledged. so no schoolhouses will be needed. and the funds which in thix day are required for their erection and maintenance can be used, we will say. to Luild hospitals (for by that time the world will be fully supplied with Carnegie libraries). If the hospitals should still be needed. which might be a question, as with other improvements, good health will probably have been taken into consideratiun as an important factor in the revised edition of the higher life.

The other addresses on the programme were as follows: '"A Half Century Ago," by Peter Bissman; ''Beautiful Ohio," by W. S. Cappeller;" "This Day in Future History," the Rev. Father Schreiber; "American History," Superintendent C. L. Van Cleve; "Local History," the Hon. C. E. McBride.

The Hon. J. F. Laning and the Hon. E. O. Randall had expected to be able to be present at the dedication and were on the programme to deliver addresses, but later found that it would be impossible to come and notified the secretary to that effect.

Eloquent tribute to the soldiers of the War of 1812 was paid by the Rev. Father Mulhane, of Mount Vernon, in his address, in which humor and pathos were exquisitely blended. It was a triumph of oratory and the speaker received abundant appreciation.

The Old Blockhouse

Several questions have been very properly asked in regard to the blockhouse that we, as a historical society and citizens of Ohio, are this day rededicating. How do we know that the logs are a part of the original building; where have they been located, and who, in chief, should have the honor or eredit of their so perfect preservation? It is beyond dispute that General James Hedges was the pioneer surveyor in Richland county. He entered a large tract of land in Madison township, including the east and south portions of Mansfield, Ohio.

General Hedges was a man of quiet demeanor, yet was a strong and fearless leader in the community of his home and was well known throughout Ohio; was a friend of the early pioneers, and their honored families well knew that by pushing a little faster on the trail through the dense primeval forest they would be welcome at the humble cabin home of James Hedges. Thus early he became acquainted with each and all families as they entered the new country - our beloved Richland county - and the queen city, its capital, on the Rockyfork of the Mohican.

Thus this early association with this class of sturdy families, a God prepared class of people, seeking a new home in an exposed northern latitude - not in particular the climate - but the wild men of the forest, the blood-thirsty Indians who had espoused the British cause. What was naturally our best source of defense? Was it not to build a fort? The only material at hand was wood, and that was in abundance. The best of trees were cut and prepared after a plan, generally adopted by the leaders in the various exposed districts of the country. The structure, when built, was called a blockhouse.

General Hedges was enthusiastically interested in this noble work. There were a number of these blockhouses built in central-northern Ohio settlements. The inhabitants, without regard to race, color or nationality, when in case of alarm, fearing an Indian disturbance, were instructed to at once flee to the blockhouse for protection and remain there until quiet was reported by some God prepared angel like John Chapman, better known as "Johnny Appleseed."' :

Many of these pioneer forts or blockhouses: later became the home of certain families, but the house we are this day dedicating was destined to be used for other historical duties - that of Richland county's first courthouse for three years, the first jail or prison and the first schoolhouse. With this early historical escutcheon engraved on every sacred log, as it were. of this time honored, sacred building. it is destined to be emblazoned on the pages of archaeological and historical society publications.

General Hedges said by his action this blockhouse must be preserved. It was taken down and moved to lot No. 168. East Second street: this lot is 60x180 feet, extending through to Virgin alley. The lot was sold to John Carson, a man with one leg, a shingle maker. Mr. Hedges, before disposing of the lot, had the blockhouse well sheeted with what is known as barn siding. I well remember when a little boy, with my honored father, we were at the Carson home when Mr. Carson stated that when General Hedges requested at various times the importance of properly protecting the old fort. Mr. Carson would rub the logs with his hands. calling it sacred timber.

The Mansfield Historical Society have had thix knowledge at heart for vears. We now invite you, our fellow citizens, to come out in the open and fully enter into the joy of the coming centennial of Mansfield, in June, 1908. We hope the membership of our society will be beautified by your signature.

You certainly understand the joy of my heart when I say that General James Hedges has fully earned the high honor and praise as the caretaker of our blockhouse.

"Half a Century Ago" was the subject of a short but very interesting address by Peter Bissman, who told of conditions in his bovhood down in Mifflin township. The reminiscence: were thoroughly enjoyed.

Postmaster Cappeller read a poem, entitled 'Beautiful Ohio." and the Rey. Father F. A. Schreiber, pastor of St. Peters Catholic church. delivered an address on "This Day in Future History." Father Schreiber is an enthusiastic lover of history, and particularly of local history. He told of the importance of commemorating the deeds of the father: and preserving the old landmarks.

"Local History" was the subject of an excellent address by the Hon. Curtis E. McBride, who took up various things in connection with Richland county history.

Professor C. L. Van Cleve, superintendent of the Mansfield public schools, was on the program for an address on "American History," but owing to the lateness of the hour he made only a few remarks. which. however, were to the point.

Monuments are erected to remind the present and coming generations of the life of some person or of some event or epoch of history. The soldiers' monument at the west side of Central Park, Mansfield, was given to the city by the late Hon. M. D. Harter, in honor of the soldiers of Richland county and as a tribute to their memory. It stands on the west side of the public square, and was unveiled with appropriate ceremony on Tuesday, November 10, 1881. Military and civic societies had places in the parade, and the late Colonel T. T. Dill was chief marshal. The late Colonel B. Burns was president of the day, who, after a brief address, introduced Mr. Harter, the donor of the monument, who was received with hearty applause by the assembled thousands and delivered his presentation address, appropriate and eloquent both in matter and in style. At the close of his address Mr. Harter formally presented the monument to the patriotic citizens of Richland county. It was then unveiled and viewed with admiration by the people present.

Judge Dirlam in an appropriate speech accepted the monument in behalf of the people. The Rey. J. 8. Broadwell, then pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church, Mansfield, followed with an address full of touching events and eloquent passages. The monument faces to the west, as the march of civilization has ever been westward.

The monument is of granite, surmounted by a bronze statue of a soldier, of heroic size, standing at parade rest upon a granite pedestal five feet square and eight feet high, of beautiful design and fine workmanship. The monument is an ornament to the park and an enduring memorial of the valor and services of Richland county's soldiers, and it is an appropriate and substantial manifestation of the generosity and patriotism of Mr. Harter, whose eventful career is shown in the business, social and religious life of this generation. The gift of this monument is appreciated by civilians and soldiers, each class hoiding Mr. Harter in grateful remembrance.

The monument was designed by Ben Pitman, at that time president of the Academy of Arts at Cincinnati, and the work was manufactured and erected by E. M. Wolff & Co., of Mansfield.

"Weary travelers, journeying west, In the shade of his trees find pleasant rest. And often they start with glad surprise At the rosy fruit that around them lies.

On the Fourth of July, 1881, the Vasbinder fountain was unveiled in Central Park. President Garfield had been shot by Guiteau the day before and the sad event had cast a shadow of gloom over Mansfield, causing the Fourth to be passed in a very quiet and orderly way. A large number of people, however, assembled in the park to witness the dedicatory ceremonies. The late Hon. James Purdy was president of the dav, and Dr. William Bushnell, Levi Zimmerman, John Wiler and others were vice presidents. Captain A. C. Cummins was grand marshal. The Hon. Henry C. Hedges, in a well-worded address. presented the fountain to the city on the part of the donors. Colonel B. Burns, in an appropriate speech, accepted the gift on the part of the city.

Although this fountain is seen daily by our people a brief description may not be out of place. The fountain proper above the water line is hexagonal and has a well-designed column upon each corner. In the center above this is a round standard supporting a large iron basin. which is artistically enriched with high-class carving, and in the center and above is a group of statuary - three allegorical figures, one representing the Horn of Plenty, another representing Rebecca at the well, and the third is a figure beautifully draped, holding a wreath of flowers in her hand. Above this group is a smaller basin, surmounting which there is a statue, from which a number of water jets are thrown in semi-circular streams into the basins below. The beauty of the fountain has been marred by painting. The material is bronze, and, if painted at all, it should be of a plain bronze color. The fountain was designed by J. L. Mott & Co., of New York city, and the work was done by E. M. Wolff, of Mansfield. s

David and Jane Vasbinder, brother and sister, the generous donors of the fountain, were old residents of Richland county, and this gift to the city was made in the evening time of their lives. i

A monument has recently been erected in South Park, Mansfield, to the One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment, O. V. I. It was unveil2d with appropriate ceremony on Saturday, August 22, 1908.

Richland county can point with pride to her quota in the galaxy of Ohio poets. ''The poet is born, not made," and "'the poet alone sees nature," were favorite sayings among the ancients. From his very infancy the beauties and the melodies of the earth impress themselves divinely on the soul of the true poet. To him the heavens and the earth seem full of spirituality, beauty and melody, and his instinct indulges in musings, reveries and day dreamings, and afterward, when his thoughts are put into verse, they come forth with poetic aroma or crystallized in imperishable luster. It is the province of poetry to present higher and more spiritual ideals of life, and in this our Richland county poets are entitled to praise and honor.

It has been said that Ohio is not rich in poetry. No new country is; and Ohio is new, compared with old New England. The early settlers here had a forest country to clear and wars to fight - events which furnish materials only after the mellowing influences of time have long hung over their history. The pioneers. doubtless had songs, but they were not preserved even in traditions.

The first poem printed in Ohio, so far as is known, was an historical one written by Return Jonathan Meigs. and read at a Fourth of Julv celebra- {ion at Marietta in 1787. It began:

The poem was descriptive of the Ohio valley as it then appeared and as it was destined to become. In what seems like prophetic vision the poet further wrote:

In 1860 there were about forty recognized poets in Ohio, the majority of whom were to the manor born. They might be divided into two classes - those who followed literature or newspaper work as a profession, and those who, although engaged in other vocations, occasionally wooed the muse.

The poems of the poets of Ohio may not equal in pretentious styles the poetry of the East, yet in noble aspirations, in expressive appreciations of natural beauty, in depicting and cultvating domestic affections and in breathing a spirit of morality and religion, the writings of our Ohio authors compare favorably with those of any other country in the world. Poetry, in its highest perfection, is thought, feeling, imagery and music, expressed in the most appropriate language. Poetry is the greatest of the fine arts and is closely allied to the rest of them. In some poems thought predominates, as in Pope's "Essay on Man ;" in others, feeling is expressed, as in Wolfe's "Burial of Sir John Moore;" in others, imagery is expressed, as in Moore's "Lalla Rookh." It would be a pleasure to write of many Ohio poets did space admit of such wention. To come to our own county, the first to receive attention, chronologically, is Andrew Coffinberry, commonly called Count Coffinberry, who was a pioneer lawyer and who sometimes courted the muse. Among: his poetical productions was an epic poem called 'Forest Rangers," that struck the popular current at that time.

The Rev. James B. Walker, for many vears pastor of the Congregational church of Mansfield, was a poet and writer of wide reputation. His "Angel Whispers" and other poems gave him a high place among the poets of America.

Mrs. Lovezila Patterson, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Solomon Gladden, of Monroe township, contributed to the Mansfield press both in prose and poetry back in the fifties. She gave her place of residence as Hazel Dell, by which name the schoolhouse near the home where she was reared is still called.

Rosella Rice was born, reared and lived the greater part of her hfe near Perrysville, which was formerly a part of Richland county. She was a born poet and nursed her strange. wild fancies amid the equally wild hills and glens and rocky caves which she haunted with a devotion that amounted to a life passion. Meeting with but few associates who could appreciate the depth of her passion for such communings. her spirit was wont to retire within herself except when it was called forth by the presence of the sylvan gods among whom she worshiped.

Coming but little in contact with the world at large. she usually built upon ideal models. She contributed to Arthur's Home Magazine. Philadelphia, and also to a number of the leading newspapers of Ohio. She is now deceased.

Mrs. Naney Coulter Eddy, of Perrvsville. formerly lived in Washington township. this county. Her contributions to the county papers were quite popular. but after her marriage she ceased to dally with the imme-e.

Ida Eckert. formerly of Perry township. this county. achieved considerable notoriety as a poet and published a small volume of poems called "Dav Dreams."'

Miss Sade E. Baughman is a writer of both prose and poetry. but never sought to have her writings published in book form. Her poetical writings are of the inspirational kind, but are tempered and polished by vears of newspaper work. Miss Baughman is the youngest child of Jacob and Elizabeth (Cunningham) Baughman. and her grand parents were among the very first settlers of the county. She is a sister of A. J. Baughman. the writer of this history. and assisted in the preparation of the work.

The ground was covered with the first snow of winter: the air was dull and humid, and overhead hung a murky sky. as a newspaper worker was returning from one of the several additions that make the citr plat of Mans- field cover two thousand acres. It was a chilly, cheerless day, and he was hurrying along anxious to get back to the warmth of the Shield office, and later to his home.

Crossing from one street to another he noticed a small dwelling house with a summer kitchen annex. The building is but little more than a shanty, and that is why it struck his attention, for Mansfield is noted for its handsome, comfortable looking homes, even among the poorest class of its people. The building and its surroundings indicated that poverty dwelt within that home. And while the thought was passing that perhaps even want was there, the words "Home, Sweet Home," were wafted upon the snow-flecked air in a sweet melody of song. Upon looking around a man was seen chopping wood in the side yard of the little house. The pile of wood was small and was

The song seemingly came to rebuke thoughts that the humble little home must necessarily be an unhappy one. As he stopped and listened to the song the receding sun cast rays of light around the dwelling as an aerifying benediction. in accord with the song. How impressible is man! How the song seemed to change the scene! The poverty aspect disappeared and one of gladsome happiness and home-like comfort took its place. Showing that no matter how humble one's surroundings may be, if love and contentment dwell therein. there ix no place like home. Home joys to some may be like flowers hidden in a fog, or like winter plants covered with snow, yet love can dispel the fog and melt the snow if it dwells in the heart. People may be weary. weary from overwork or overwaiting, and hope may at times even seem to be a heavy burden, but in that beautiful home to come all can unite in singing "Home. Sweet Home."

It is easy to trace through the history of civilization the subtle force of popular melodie: representing the thoughts and emotions that have prevailed from time to time and helped to share the course of events and the destinies of nations. All countries have their favorite and characteristic songs, corresponding to the temperament and tendency of their respective peoples. But John Howard Payne's '"'Home, Sweet Home'"' is for all nations and for all ages. and goes to the human heart wherever love and home are known. There is something divine in music, and that is why birds of prey never sing, and infidelity has no song.

It is told that upon one occasion in Georgia during the Civil War, the Union and Confederate armies. confronting each other, rested on their arms for the night. A battle was imminent on the morrow. At early evening the

Federal bands played the "The Star-Spangled Banner," which evoked cheers from the Union troops. While their cheers were echoing in the distance, the Confederate bands: began to play the sprightly air of "Dixie," which was welcomed with vigorous rebel yells. Following this the bands of the contending armies alternately played "Hail, Columbia," "Maryland, My Maryland," "Yankee Doodle" and the "Bonnie Blue Flag." A few moments of impressive silence followed this friendly contest of war tunes, and then it is written that "(Calm on the listening ear of night" came the soft, sweet strains of "Home, Sweet Home" from one of the rebel bands. The exquisite sentiment and tenderness of the song vividly recalled to the minds of the soldiers the homes they had left in the North and in the South, and the bands of the Union army joined in the music of the universal song. For the moment sectional lines were forgotten and the passions of war were softened by the air and the words of the world's great refrain:

Love Affairs

Thomas Ream and Katharine Rolfe were schoolmates in the ante-bellum days and their parents were neighbors and owned farms in one of the most noted townships in Richland county. The children were playmates and friends from their infancy. Their confidence and attachment for each other showed the beauty of that faith and love that oftentimes sets two hearts voyaging together on the wondrous sea of the future.

Thomas was born in 1840 and Katharine a few years later. A school incident, occurred in the winter of 1850 that was as amusing to the pupils as it was embarrassing to Thomas and Katharine. Thoinas had written Katharine a note, which was against the rules of the school, and, having been intercepted by the teacher, was read aloud, as follows:

Dear Kate: I take my pen in hand to inform you that I slipped a big red apple in your dinner basket, and when vou eat it please think of me.

The pupils laughed when this was read, which the teacher seemed to think was the proper thing for them to do. Kate cried and Tom looked defiant,

Those were the good old school days of two generations agone, when children went to school to study and to learn, and carried corn pone and spare ribs for noonday lunch. There were occasional diversions of sitting on the dunceblock for disregarding thumb-papers or for other acts of omission or commission.

Thomas was a bright, capable boy. and his parents intended him for one of the learned professions. But how differently things turn out sometimes from what had been intended - how people are molded and changed by circumstances and events.

The memorable spring of 1861 ushered in the great War of the Rebellion just as Thomas was preparing to enter an Eastern college. The pariotie blood of a revolutionary ancestor tlowed warmly through Thomas' veins, and he promptly responded to his country's call for troops to defend its flag. That war is long since a thing of the past. and since its close men of the North and of the South have marched together against a common foe.

Thomas was one of the first to enlist. and a few days' later had marching orders to the front, but first he must bid Katharine goodbye. and felt as fhough he could not leave until he first had an open avowal of the love he knew she bore him. He called at the house, but was told that Katharine had gone down the graveled walk toward the stream. He followed and found her sitting upon the bank looking pensively over the waters of the Clearfork as they rippled over the pebbled bottom and flowed gracefully with a musical murmur between the green banks.

There was a sadness in the greeting of these young people, for each felt that that was their last meeting - at least for vears - perhaps forever. They talked at first upon indifferent topics, each dreading to mention the subject of the war, and as he sat and watched her lovely face in the fading sunlight he almost regretted that he had placed himself in a position that forced him to leave her. The sunset faded out and the moon threw the shadows of the trees at their feet, and a spell of peace seemed to hover over the earth, making them almost forgetful of the war and the uncertainties of the future.

Love interviews, proposals and betrothals are difficult to narrate and describe, especially by one who has neither witnessed nor passed through such scenes ; therefore, suffice to state sententiously that ere this couple parted they were engaged, looking forward to their marriage at the close of the war. And thus they separated, she to go to her quiet home; he to take his place in the ranks of the grand army of the Union as it went forth to put down the Rebellion. Thomas and Katharine met again six years later, but under verv different and unlooked for circumstances and conditions. ;

In one of the great battles of the war Thomas was wounded, captured and placed in a rebel prison, and for many months all that his friends in the North knew of him was that he was among the '"'missing."

During the interim other trouble was added to Katharine's sorrow. Her father's health failed and a change of climate - a trip to California - was recommended. Katharine was to go with her father, and this she felt would place her still farther from her soldier boy lover whom, she confidently believed, still lived, and as she prepared for the journey she hoped each day that word would come from him on the morrow. But none came, and it was many months after she was on the Pacific coast ere word reached farmer Ream that his son was in Libby prison. Thomas lived through that terrible imprisonment, was finally exchanged, took his place again in the ranks, where he served until the close of the war. If Thomas ever wrote to Katharine after he was taken prisoner she never received his letters, and time and events drifted them still farther from each other and kept them apart.

Katharine's father's health came back to him and he concluded to make California his permanent home, and while the daughter rejoiced over her father's restoration to health, she still grieved for her lover and for two years was in doubt as to his fate. She, however, found comfort in her household cares and consolation in the observance of her Christian duties. She regularly attended religious services, and one Sunday evening she felt especially devout, and as she looked at the cross the chancel lights seemed lke resplendent stars casting a halo of glory upon the altar. She knelt and worshiped, forgetful of earthly cares and of earthly sorrow. But presently she was startled, imagining she heard her lover's voice in the Litany responses. In vain she looked over the small congregation. but he was not there. She then realized that it was only a fancy or delusion caused by the mind being over-strained with anxiety and suspense - an auricular phantasin resultant from tension of brain and nerve. :

After four vears peace came again to the land and the boys in blue came marching home. Thomas was with the number and was the hero of the neighborhood in which his parents lived and was loved by the young maidens for the dangers through which he had passed.

Among the young ladies who smiled upon the returned soldier was one Ellen Moore, whose father during Thomas' absence had moved into the neighborhood and bought a large farm. whose broad acres bordered the valley and skirted the hills. Ellen, even as a girl, was as plain as her name, but was one of the most estimable of her sex. Ellen was the opposite of Katharine. for the latter was talented, brilliant and beautiful and capable of adorning any station in life.

The beautiful girl on the Pacific coast was neglected, if not forgotten. and Thomas Ream paid court to the matter-of-fact Ellen Moore. and within a vear they were married.

In the meantime, Katharine Rolfe, hearing of Ream's return, waited long and impatiently for him to visit her. She had given him her love. had promised to become his wife, and how prayerfully, how hopefully. how despondentlv at times during the five long vears she had waited for his return and for the fulfillment of his promise to make her his wife. But as he came not to her, she decided to go to him, feeling that she must see him once more and hear from his own lips that he still loved her. With this resolve she crossed the continent and arrived in her old home village on a Saturday night. The next day she attended church and a few moments after she was seated a bridal party entered, it being their "appearance" day. As they passed up the aisle Katharine saw that the groom was Thomas Ream, and a friend at her side whispered to her that the bride was Ellen Moore, that was.

This pen will not attempt to describe the feeling of disappointment, of chagrin and of sorrow that may have swayed poor Katharine's mind, or how the blow may have bruised her heart. Upon leaving the church, for a moment the eyes of Thomas and Katharine met, and what each read in the other's face is among the things that are sealed.

\s the purpose of this sketch is to state facts, not to explain actions, no cause can be given for Reams actions in discarding the girl whom he had loved in his vouth.

In his courtship with her. he looked hopefully forward to a professional career. in which he expected to sueceed. for, as Bulwer wrote, "in the lexicon of youth. which fate reserves for a bright manhood, there is no such word as fail." But when he concluded to be a farmer, as his father was before him. then he wanted a wife whose mind would be content with counting the profits on butter and eggs. rather than attending club meetings, dances and theaters.

In the southern part of Jefferson township, a locality noted for the diversified beauty of itx landscapes, as well as for the fertility of its soil, Jennie Swank passed her childhood and her youth at the family homestead of her parents. about midway between Butler and Anknevtown. She was a lovely girl and wax beloved by her school mates and other acquaintances. She is of medium height. a brunette, but not of that pronounced type for whom men have been willing to cross swords and die.

When Jennie was yet in her teens, a young man from the Keystone state, with whose family the Swanks were acquainted, visited in the Swank locality, met the winsome' Jennie, and then eye spake to eye and soul to soul, and then they realized the saying of the poet, that -

Their betrothal followed, and soon afterward the young man returned to his home in the East, promising to soon return and make Jennie his wife. 'Tis useless to dwell upon or try to depict their parting. Lovers separated before, have since, and the vicissitudes of life will part others, also; and

Weeks passed and lengthened into months, but no message came from the absent lover to the trusting maiden. What did it mean? Had he won her love and asked for her hand, but to cast them aside? No, she could not believe that, and in confidence she continued to watch and to wait. She went about her household duties in a mechanical way, while the future seemed to her voung and over-burdened heart like a leadened sky to the way-tossed mariner, as fraught with omens of ill.

Jennie reached that stage in her anxious expectations and of hopes unrealized, when a woman of a less trustful nature and of different mental endowments, would have turned from the avenues of disappointment to go forth into the world to seek a '"'career,'' when she had failed to get a husband and a home. But such thoughts did not occur to this poor girl. The realm of letters, the field of the arts, she knew not of, except as she may have read of them in her school books, and if thoughts and visions of a "career" or of the "new woman" came to her at all, they were in a dim, indefinite form, pointing only to a path that was too remote and inaccessible for her to reach and tread. She had given the true love of her young heart to the man who had asked her to become his wife and whom she could not think was untrue to her. There may have been a difference in their stations of life, but love works mysteriously and by the alkahest of its subtle chemistry melts all distinctions in a common crucible. And as Jennie would look upon the betrothal ring her lover placed upon her finger, as they walked side by side in the fields where the cows grazed and the apples ripened, she doubted him not.

At last, after months of watchful expectations. she was informed that her father had intercepted her letters. If Jennie had not courage, her innocence and simplicity stood her in its place, and she confronted her father and accused him of his duplicity and baseness. An angry scene followed. Jennie announcing that she would go at once to the man to whom she was betrothed. and her father declared she should not go. The father had carried his opposition beyond the limit of her forbearance, beyond the wide margin of the love she bore for her parents. and a look of determination and of contempt came over her features as she braved the parental authority. and the father permitted his anger to get the better of his judgment and his love, and punished Jennie severely. whipping her unmercifully, it was said. What cause the father had for his opposition to the voung man to whom his daughter was engaged, is not known, further than that he "hated him," and we hate as we do everything else, according to our nature. The defects of temperment. the clouded judgment and unreasonable prejudice extends to our likes and dislikes unconsciously.

The writer will not here attempt to give a dissertation upon the case, either pathologically, physiologically, or psychologically, but shall leave

Jennie is now over forty years of age and for the fourth of a century she has been an inmate of eleemosynary institutions, first in the county infirmary, then for several years in an asylum, from which she was returned as incurable, and for a number of years she was confined in a maniac's cell, but she is now given considerable liberty and assists in the work in the kitchen department of the infirmary. But for nearly all those years her tongue has been tied in silence, but she is now able to articulate "'yes' or "no" so that they can be understood. Jennie has become somewhat stout, but her face shows evidence of the beauty of her youth.

Jennie wore her betrothal ring for many years, but it was finally lost and now she wears one she made of wire, to take its place. In the past she would hold up her white hand that visitors might see the band of gold that encircled her finger, as they looked at her through the iron bars of her cell. No trial through which she has passed has shaken her faith and trust, nor displaced her lover from the shrine whereon she had placed him, and where in her heart she doubtless worships him still.

A short time after Henry Swank had inflicted the punishment upon his daughter Jennie, he came to his death in a tragic way. While at work in the woods, in felling a tree, it careened upon the stump. struck Mr. Swank, inflicting injuries from which he died the following day.

But what of the lover? the reader may ask. If this were a' romance, instead of a plain. true tale, the writer might attempt to evolve a romantic story, telling how this whilom lover has remained faithful and true to the girl. whom. in her insanity, has remained true to him still. But, to be truthful. we know naught of him.

But he doubtless looks back to that unfortunate engagement only as an episode of his boyish fancy, for the most of us know that the infatuations of youth are dispelled as the vears of our age advance, and that love, such as young hearts imagine and poets paint. is but a myth.

A young girl, gifted, handsome and wealthy, was wooed and her love won by a young man of her neighborhood and their wedding was to take place at the holiday season.

At that time Miss Ebersole owned a half section (section 32) of land - one of those fertile farms for which Jefferson township is so justly noted. Her parents were dead and her brother was equally well provided for - owning one of the best farms on the far-famed Owl Creek valley. in Knox county.

Being engaged, Miss Ebersole, no doubt, indulged in day dreamings, and sought at times the seclusion of the forest for meditation and thought, and in the confidence she felt in the man of her choice, she was happy. To her love seemed to be effulgent in the air and to whisper in the rustling of the leaves, and that its demulcent influences o'erspread the earth. She was so true and devoted in her nature that it made her exacting and exclusive in her affections.

It has been said that there comes to every woman the vision of a complete 'life - a home life with the man she loves. He comes to every woman once - the man who could be supremely the husband of her soul - he, who beyond and above every other human being, might be to her what no other one could be in companionship and love.

To her mind her betrothed was all that was great, noble and manly. and she loved to pay him homage by her exquisite humility and contented submission. She was glad that she was rich and that he was poor - that she had not only love, but wealth to bestow upon the man she had promised to wed. Miss Ebersole's character had been molded on the grand but simple lines of duty. and when the true character of the man to whom she was betrothed was revealed to her, when she was convinced that he had remarked that he "didn't care for Katy as much as for her property," she acted promptly and spurned the mercenary creature who had sought her hand that be might obtain her wealth. She lost him when she lost confidence in him. She then rose grandly to the high plane and dignity of true womanhood and discarded him forever.

He may have made the remark half in jest. for conflicting and complex influences may come into a man's life, and under peculiar circumstances he may say things which he does not half mean. or does not mean at all. But his remark struck bevond the limit of her forgivenness - bevond even the wide margin of her love. The lines tightened about her mouth. and a look of determination, if not of suffering. overspread her face. She realized that their lives must separate and that she must tread life's weary journey alone. and sufficient strength came to her to sustain her until life's end.

Another woman might have sought consolation and reparation in love for another. but Katherine could love but one and once. The "new woman" movement had not then been inaugurated. or she might have taken to the rostrum or stage to win a "career" because she had lost a lover.

The ordeal through which she passed burned the rosez of love into ashes upon her heart, and from a loving. confiding creature she was metamorphosed into a Niobe and passed the remaining years of her life in anchoretical-like seclusion.

When troubles come and in times of disappointment and sorrow. aching and weary hearts are wont to seek solace and rest in the grave. Satan comes to us in our weakest moments and tempts us in the hour of our severest trials. And he may have tried to tempt this young girl to end all in death. If so, conscience held rein over desire and weakness, as she recalled the teachings of a Christian mother - that our life is not our own: that we must accept its penalties, must bear its pains and burdens and fulfill its purposes. but that we have no right to cast it off, lest we thereby fail to reach that more exceeding and eternal life of glory of which this is but the faintest dawn. Paradise and heaven may seem afar off and almost impossible to attain, while this earthlife appears but a mockery to the overburdened heart. But

Love and happiness beautify a woman's life, and as these were denied Miss Ebersole, we must with charity temper our criticisms of her after-course, for the cynicism into which she sank never developed into misanthropy.

It is stated by her neighbors that for several years thereafter Miss Ebersole lived somewhat after the manner of people in general, but as she grew older she became more morose and seclusive, and was an object of curiosity in the community and her doings were the gossip of her neighbors.

Her house stood at the west side of the new state road, about five miles south of Bellville. Finally, for more seclusion, she built a cabin further from the road. There was but little furniture in the house, and in an old chest she kept the bedelothes her mother had given her. A corner of the large hearth in front of the fire-place served her as a bed, a stone was her pillow and she covered herself with boards. Tenants tilled the farm and marketed its products. After the crops were gathered she raked the fields and gleaned, like Ruth of old, grain suthcient for her simple needs.

Although she lived in a condition of self-imposed penury and hoarded her bountiful gains. she did not grasp at possessions that were not her own, but exercised the most delicate discernments of justice and was conscientious and honorable in all her business relations. In speaking of herself she always used the plural pronoun, as '"'we are well," and like expressions.

Miss Ebersole was once robbed, and in the trial that followed she appeared as a witness in the Mansfield court room. and lawvers tried to make sport of her peculiarities. She finally became blind and was taken to her brother's, in Knox county, where she died a few vears ago.

One of the most earnest advocates of the "Maine Liquor Law" in Mansfield was the late Hon. William Stevens, who with voice and pen ably presented the question of the prohibition of the sale of intoxicating drinks, which was very much agitated in Ohio in the early fifties.

Mr. Stevens was the author of a book of three hundred and fifty-two pages, entitled 'The Unjust Judge: or The Evils of Intemperance on Judges, Lawyers and Politicians: by a Member of the Ohio Bar.'"" The work was published in Mansfield in 1854, and was printed at the office of the 'Western Branch Book Concern of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection of America." The printing office was in the Drackert building, on South Main street, now owned by Mr. Lorenz. Mr. Stevens at that time resided in a house now owned by J. H. Barr - the first house north of the Drackert building.

"The Unjust Judge" dealt largely with the dissipation which it alleged existed in the legal profession at that time. In his preface, Mr. Stevens stated that he had drawn upon the bench, the bar and the political arena for material from which to weave the web for the book, and that though some passages might appear pointed and personal, he disclaimed any such intention, but insisted that the work was aimed at the idiosyncracies of a class, and not at individuals. The following stanza of poetry upon its title page explains a motives and gives an incentive for the work:

"Go hear what I have heard - The sobs of sad despair - As memory feeling's fount hath stirred, And its revealings there Have told him what he might have been, Had he the drunkard's fate foreseen."

Mr. Stevens' book covered a wide range of thought, containing chapters pertaining to love, courtship and marriage, and on dissipation, degradation and crime. One of its most graphic chapters depicts a scaffold scene in which a man condemned to death was reprieved on the gallows after the black cap had been drawn over his face. The author portrayed scenes as actors represent characters upon the stage in theatrical presentations. He hit hard and, no doubt, sometimes ill'advisedly. His intentions may have been good, but his enemies claimed that his attacks upon certain members of the bar were made on account of enmity existing between them and the author. And now in reading the book fifty-four vears after its publication, one is surprised that the lawyers did not take a more, serious view of the attacks Mr. Stevens made upon them.

A reason assigned for the dissipation which then, as it was claimed, existed to some extent among the members of the legal profession, was that: "Lawvers frequently attended courts in other counties. where they not only met their brethren of that particular bar, but also from other places. and often had to wait several davs for their cases to be reached on the docket, and, in the meantime, thev sauntered about town with time hanging heavily upon them; that while they were invited frequently to drink, they had in turn to treat, or be thought penurious, and in that wav the drinking habit was formed unconsciously."

Many persons today regret that the lawvers of the Mansfield bar were shown in the bad light in which Mr. Stevens' book placed them. The facts are the Richland bar has ever been a credit to both the county and the state, and has always compared favorably with the bars elsewhere.

Mr. Stevens was a man of good character, was a good lawyer and a graphic writer. He was prosecuting attorney of Richland county two terms. His wife was a sister of the late John Larwill. The family removed to Kansas within a few years after the publication of the book. The first effective prohibitory law in the United States was enacted in Maine in 1851. The bill was drawn by Neal Dow, was known throughout the country as the "Maine Law," ,and the campaign in Ohio in 1854, involving a restrictive liquor law, was a strenuous one, and resulted in the passage of a modified "Maine Law" in Ohio.

Mansfield Press

Of the various newspapers that have been published in the city of Mansfield I shall try to enumerate in their historical order with some personal recollections of the men who conducted them.

The first paper published in Mansfield was established in 1818 by John C. Gilkinson, the pioneer printer of the city, and whose son, Mansfield H. Gilkinson, was the first white male child born in Mansfield. I knew them both very well and they were excellent citizens. The name of the paper established in 1818 was 'The Olive,' and was only published about a year. I had a volume of it bound, which I gave the Memorial library soon after it was opened, but the volume has now disappeared.

The next paper was called '"'The Mansfield Gazette,' and was established in August, 1822. by the late James Purdy, who, through a long life was a leading lawyer and banker, and was always one of our most worthy citizens. The Gazette was Whig in politics. It was continued under Mr. Purdy's management for about ten vears. Mr. Purdy gave me bound volumes of his files for the vears 1826, 1827 and 1828, which I also presented to the Memorial library, but they are now in the Memorial museum, safely kept and properly cared for. For its day and generation the Gazette was a very creditable newspaper.

In 1830, Josiah L. Reed. of whom I know nothing, except that he started a Democratic paper in Mansfield called '"'The Western Herald," which he conducted for a year or two and then disposed of the plant.

In 1832, T. W. Bartley, Dr. Rentzel and J. C. Gilkinson formed a partnership and bought out both the Gazette and Herald, and commenced the publication of 'The Ohio Spectator." The plant was soon sold to Henry Seymour, and then by Seymour to J. H. Hoffman, who with Rentzel conducted it to the close of the first volume, when it failed.

Thomas W. Bartley, then a leading lawyer in Mansfield, afterwards became governor of Ohio and later chief justice of the supreme court. In 1832 another paper was started in Mansfield called "The Richland Whig." Its publishers were John and Charles Boreland. But the Whig, like the Spectator, lasted only a year.

In 1836 the Spectator outfit was purchased by John Meredith and John Warnock, who continued it as a Democratic paper under the name of ''The Ohio Shield." Upon Mr. Warnock's retirement from the paper, the name was changed to the "Shield and Banner,' under the firm name of Meredith & Maxwell, who in 1841, sold the plant to John Y. Glessner, and the paper remained under Mr. Glessner's ownership and control until his death in 1882, after which it was sold to the Hon. C. N. Gaumer, who enlarged its capacity in many ways and a few years later started the 'Mansfield Daily Shield" in connection with the weekly edition. After a successful run of a dozen or more years, Mr. Gaumer sold the plant to the Shield Publishing

John Y. Glessner, who for over forty years was the editor and proprietor of the Shield, was one of our best known citizens and no one was more generally known and respected and loved. In 1871, the Shield office was destroyed by fire, and the files of the paper which contained so much of the history of Mansfield, were thus lost.

The Hon. C. N. Gaumer represented Richland county for two terms in the State legislature. John Meredith, who organized the Shield and Banner in 1836, was elected probate judge in 1858 and was re-elected in 1861. after which he removed to Shelby, where he died in 1895. He was buried in the Mansfield cemetery.

The Shield and Banner has had the longest existence of any of the Richland county newspapers. The Shield has always been a Democratic paper. In 1838, a Whig paper was started by Moraine Devine, called the "Richland Jeffersonian," which they conducted one year and then sold oui to J. C. Gilkinson & Sons, who after nine years sold the plant to Mathias: Day, Jr., and E. W. Smith. Day & Smith changed the name of the paper to "The Mansfield Herald." In 1852 Mr. Day purchased Mr. Smith': interest and continued the publication of the paper.

In 1854, upon the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, the slavery question came to the front, and the old political parties were more or less disorganized and disintegrated, and a new party composed of anti-slavery Democrats and anti-slavery Whigs came together in 1855, as the people's party, and in 1856, it became the Republican party; old questions went to the rear, the only bond of union was opposition to the extension of slavery, and recruits from all the old parties were welcome.

I was then a young lawyer in active practice and a zealous Free Soil Democrat and naturally took to the new movement. The Herald was its organ in Richland county, its editor and proprietor, Mr. Davy, was indisposed by illness and went away on sick leave. Before going. however, he requested me to take the supervision of his editorial columns. which I did. with no idea of it being more than a temporary arrangement. Mr. Day's illness was protracted until he felt compelled to dispose of the Herald property. In 1855, in company with James G. Robinson and David Locke, of Plymouth, I purchased the entire Herald establishment.

I was the political editor of the Herald. Robinson and Locke were practical printers and took charge of the mechanical department. Locke was foreman and city editor. We put in steam presses and a book bindery, and enlarged the establishment in other directions. At the close of the firs: year, Mr. Locke being unable to meet his payments, he sold out to his partners, and later we sold a one-third interest to Mr. Dav, who had recovered his health. Later on Mr. Robinson and Mr. Day went out and I became sole owner. I conducted a prosperous business until 1859, and then sold out to the Myers Brothers and returned to my profession.

As to my career as an editor, I have only to say that my files for four years, in four volumes, were bound and can be seen in the Memorial library, and those who read them can judge for themselves whether I held my own in the political controversies of that period. In those controversies I am glad to say that Mr. Glessner, the editor of the Democratic Shield, and I were always personal friends and in our business relations were always helpful to each other. We often borrowed type of each other and sometimes exchanged matter. Mr. Glessner and I never deemed it essential to indulge in personal abuse or to befoul a candidate or an office holder, simply because he did not belong to our political party, and I am very sure an example of that kind of political warfare, now almost universal, can not be found in the files of the Mansfield Herald under my administration.

I am also glad to say that my relations with my partners were always friendly. Mr. Robinson was a man of high character and excellent business ability, and after leaving me he became the proprietor of the Bucyrus Journal, in which he was joined by Mr. Locke. They conducted a prosperous business for a number of years.

Mr. Locke wrote a series of humorous papers for the Plymouth Advertiser, and later for the Herald, which were as funny as anv he ever wrote, and if any one has preserved them I would be glad to see them again. Those in the Herald files were cut and stolen.

My successor, the Myers Brothers, after successfully conducting the Herald for fifteen years, sold the plant to George U. Harn & Brother, who conducted the Herald with various mutations for about ten years, but in an evil hour they started a morning daily in opposition to the Evening News, then recently established. The venture was a failure, and put the Herald into bankruptey and final dissolution.

Of the Myers Brothers, who succeeded me, George, the oldest, died in about a year. Lorenzo went into the army as quartermaster of the Sixtyfourth O. V. I., and after the close of the war he settled in Columbus and served as postmaster for four vears, later he became interested in the job printing business which he conducted very successfully. Wesley, the youngest of the boys, remained in Mansfield for a number of years in charge of the Herald. but after disposing of the plant he removed to Toledo and became secretary of the National Union, a life insurance company. He is now dead.

In addition to the papers I have named there have been a number of others. First in point of time was a Democratic campaign paper started in 1844, by Wiley & Tidball, and called "The Morning Pennant." During the same year a Whig campaign paper was published by William Johnston, called "'The Richland Bugle and Independent Press." Both these papers were suspended after the election. Johnston was an erratic genius, a scholarly man and an orator. During the Civil War Mr. Johnston was elected to Congress as a Democrat. He died soon after the expiration of his term.

In 1852, the Rev. Edward Smith, a noted Wesleyan Methodist minister, came to Mansfield and with h's son-in-law, the Robert McCune, established the Western Branch Book Concern. Mr. McCune was a practical printer and took charge of the mechanical department of the same. They located in the brick building on the west side of Main street, between First and Second streets, and started the Christian Statesman, a weekly newspaper published as the organ of the Wesleyan denomination. They also did book work, and printed "The Unjust Judge," a book of three hundred and fifty pages. written by William Stevens, then a Mansfield lawyer. The Christian Statesman was an anti-slavery paper. Messrs. Smith & McCune later moved their printing establishment to the second story of the Mansfield Herald office, in order to get their printing done on the Herald's steam presses.

"The Ohio Liberal" newspaper wax started in 1873 by General R. Brinkerhoff. Nominally, it was published by a stock company, in which the Hon. M. D. Harter and W.. S. McMillen were interested. The paper was intended to represent the views of the liberal Republicans, as this was the year following the Horace Greeley campaign. General Brinkerhoff was the editor-in-chief and was assisted by Messrs. Harter and McMillen. The paper made things lively politically, and to the surprise of the promoters it paid expenses from the start. A. J. Baughman was the '"'field man'' for the first year and secured a large subscription list, after which he became the city and desk editor. Since then Mr. Baughman has had many years of service in the newspaper business. After a short time the Liberal became my personal perquisite, and I continued its publication successfully for several years. In 1876 I championed the candidacy of Samuel J. Tilden for the presidency. In 1877 I sold the plant to Henry Foulk and his brother Charles, practical printers, who continued the publication for eight or ten years and then sold the same to W. S. Cappeller. who consolidated it with the Mansfield News. Charles Foulk died in 1882, and Henry, after disposing of ihe plant, removed to Missouri and engaged in job printing.

The only Geriman newspaper in Mansfield, so far as I can remember, is "The Mansfield Courier,' which was established in 1872, by August Selback, who conducted it for a short time, after which it passed into the hauds of John B. Netscher, who, in January, 1874, sold the plant to Killian & 'Nuebler. Mr. Killian died within a year or two, after which his interest was sold to Albert Wolfe. Later Mr. Kuebler bought Mr. Wolfe's interest aua became sole proprietor, in which capacity he continues its publication to-day.

In June, 1876, the first Sunday newspaper made its appearance in Mansfield, called "The Sunday Morning Call," a seven-column folio. It was established by A. J. Baughman and was devoted principally to local news. In fact, it was the first newspaper in Mansfield which made a specialty of local happenings and had a decided influence in stirring up the staid old weekly competitors to activity along local lines. In 1884, after a successful run of eight years, the Call was changed to the Mansfield Democrat, ana made a six-column quarto. The publication of a Democratic newspaper was better suited to Mr. Baughman's taste than was delving into local matters, which were often more or less sensational. Mr. Baughman's sister, Miss Sade E. Baughman, also a printer, was associated with him on the Democrat, and in the spring of 1885, Mr. Baughman was appointed to a clerkship in the United States Senate and Miss Baughman to a clerkship in the treasury cc-partment in Washington, D. C., and gave up their newspaper work in Mansfield and entered the government service at the National Capital. They are now, and have been for a number of years past, engaged in historical work.

In calling the roll of Mansfield newspapers, it would hardly be fair to «init the name of "The Daily Chronicle," notwithstanding the brevity of its existence. It was started by Charles Grant Miller, in August, 1895, as a nworning journal. It was bright and newsy, but for want of support it lasted cnly about six months. Mr. Miller was a gifted writer, with considerable fame as a journalist, but was a failure as a manager.

The Mansfield Press And Its People

"Sketches have been given of the Mansfield newspapers of the past and of the graves of a number of them. This, however, deals with the men who had their entrances and their exits upon the newspaper stage of Mansfield in the years gone by. Perhaps there has been a greater change in the newspaper business in the past third of a century than in any other line of pursuit. In newspaper publishing there are two prominent features - the business management and the literary or editorial department. In the past, back before the Civil War, news was not as prominent a feature in a publication, as it is to-day, and the business and editorial departments were recognized as one. Now they are separate and distinct. A newspaper is now conducted and its policy largely controlled from the counting room by the business manager, and that is why there have been fewer gravestones put in recent years in newspaper graveyards. Nature seldom gives a man more than one gift. A great writer is seldom, if ever, a master of finance, and but few of the great business men of the country have reputations as writers.

"A story is told of two men who were graduates of Harvard and were close friends. One went to California and became successful in mining operations. The other went to New York City and engaged in newspaper work. After a separation of twenty years, the Californian returned to the East and visited his friend in New York. Each had become a millionaire. One day while lunching at Delmonico's, the New Yorker called his friend's attention to a gentleman who was sitting at another table, and remarked, "There's the man who ruined me.' The friend remarked that he did no: know he had been ruined, and said. 'You have health and a million, what else do you want?' The New Yorker explained that when he went to New York he had hopes of becoming a great editor, but, getting acquainted with the man to whom he referred, he had imbibed his business ideas and had become so absorbed with the monetary affairs that he gave up his newspaper work and engaged in financial pursuits. The new path was for awhile very alluring to him, and within ten years he became a millionaire. But he had starved both his soul and his mind in his mad pursuit for wealth, and now was dissatisfied with the result - that he would now willingly give his millions to be a great editor. But it was too late to retrace his steps; the demon of finance had entered his soul and had changed his whole course in life. To be successful in any line of endeavor should be gratifying to every one, even if the topmost round of one's ambition should not be reached. The man had aspired to a literary career; wealth seemed to him as but 'the husks which the swine doth eat.'

"As this sketch is reminiscent, it must be more or less personal. I write only of those with whom I was personally acquainted. And first upon this list was the Hon. James Purdy.

"The first newspaper in Mansfield was established in 1818, and has been published continuously ever since, with the exception perhaps of a few weeks in its early history, and for the past seventy vears has been called the Shield and Banner. The late Hon. James Purdy, who had located in Mansfield to practice law, purchased this paper in 1823. gave the office 4 better equipment, made the plant self-supporting and published the paper for about nine years. Locating here and casting his fortune: with the new town he wished to see it grow and prosper, and to this end he was willing to devote both time and money in the publication of a newspaper, without which he knew no town could succeed. Mr. Purdy's vocation was the law. his avocation the press - publishing a newspaper for the benefit of the town. In 1832, Mr. Purdy sold his newspaper plant to Thomas W. Bartley. then a prominent and gifted voung lawver of Mansfield. Mr. Bartley later filled offices of honor and trust. He was a state senator and later was governor of Ohio, and still later was one of the supreme judges of the state. Judge Bartley edited his paper from his law office and was never engaged in newspaper publishing business, but as a side line to further the interests of his town and of his party.

"In 1836 John Meredith bought the Shield and continued its publication until 1841. He later became probate judge of the county. and after his term of office had expired he removed to Shelby, where he resided until the close of his life. Judge Meredith is best remembered by the people of to-day as a member of the Old Folks' Singing society, of which he was a prominent member, aud one of the best singers of that organization.

"Rey. Edward Smith established a weekly newspaper in Mansfield in the '50s called the Christian Statesman, which he conducted for several years until his death. This paper was conducted principally to promulgate Mr. Smith's views on the slavery question and other so-called reforms. In this work he was assisted by his son-in-law, the Rev. Robert McCune, who left Mansfield some time after Mr. Smith's death. I remember of having seen Mr. Smith, but I had no personal acquaintance with him, as I was then a boy. He was a large man, a fine speaker and a born disputant. During the agitation of the slavery question, a number of persons seceded from the M. E. church at Little Washington, and formed an anti-slavery organization, and Mr. Smith preached for this congregation. He may have been its regular pastor. He was an <Abolitionist and labored fearlessly to create an anti-slavery sentiment in the North. He aimed to labor for the betterment of society. His paper was issued from the office of the 'Western' Branch Book Concern of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection of America, then located in the Drackert building on South Main street, where Mr. Helt now conducts a boarding house. From this office William Stevens published his book called the 'Unjust Judge.'

"T have been connected with the Mansfield press for many vears and in yarlous capacities, and I have owned and published newspapers of mv own in Mansfield and other places. My first work in the newspaper line was done on the Shield and Banner for the late John Y. Glessner. I have known the 'ups and downs' of the business for the past forty years and have had my share of them. In my retrospections I recall both the clouds as well as the sunshine of the past, but do not remember that I ever went out of mv way to avoid either of them.

"Of the newspaper men of Mansfield during my connection with the press, Mr. Glessner is the first of whom I now write. He came to Ohio from Somerset, Pennsylvania. where he had served an apprenticeship to the printing business, aud after removing West was engaged in publishing a paper in St. Clairsville for a few vears, later became manager of the Ohio Statesman at Columbus. then came to Mansfield in 1841, bought the Shield and Banner, which he owned. edited and published for over forty years, and until his death. But few men. perhaps, have lived such a blameless life as did Mr. Glessner. and but few men left so many friends and so few enemies. A full sized portrait of Mr. Glessner adorns the counting room of the Shield office. and persons frequently in looking at it speak kindly of their remembrance of him. While Mr. Glessner never aspired to be known as a great writer. he was a very capable newspaper man and an excellent citizen.

"General R. Brinkerhoff entered the newspaper field in Mansfield in 1854, and published the Mansfield Herald for a number of years. He also gave some attention to the practice of the law. Later he went into the army where he won the star of a brigadier, and remained in the service until after the close of the Civil War. Upon his return to Mansfield, he resumed his law practice and later newspaper work as the editor of the Ohio Liberal. For the past thirty years he has been in the banking business, and is now president of the Mansfield Savings bank. But in whatever pursuit he never neglected his literary work and his contributions to the literature of the country have been both interesting and valuable. He wields a facile pen and is a fluent speaker. Having been more or less intimately associated with him in newspaper, literary and historical work for the past forty years, I know whereof I speak.

"General James S. Robinson, when a boy, served an apprenticeship in the Herald office, he later read law, removed to Kenton and became distinguished both in civil and military affairs. He was a general in the army during the Civil War, and later served several terms as a member of Congress and two terms as secretary of state. He is now dead.

'D. R. Locke (Petroleum V. Nasby) was associated with- General Brinkerhoff on the Herald for a year or two, and later attained fame as a writer. J. M. Robinson was also associated with General Brinkerhoff on the Herald for some time. He went from here to Plymouth, where he published the Advertiser for several years, and later removed West. William Johnston published a campaign paper here in 1844. He was a lawyer, a scholarly man, a fluent speaker and wielded a trenchant pen. He represented this district in Congress a term during the Civil War. He is now dead.

"In 1850, Joel Myers and Jacob Reisenger started an independent paper called the Richland County Democrat. It was discontinued at the end of the first volume and the outfit was sold to Mr. Glessner. Mr. Reisenger was postmaster of Mansfield during President Pierce': administration, and Myers was probate judge of the county two terms. The latter was rather a fair editorial writer in a geueral way. In 1859. Mr. Reisenger and L. C. Kelley started a paper called the Richland Democrat. Mr. Reisenger died about a year after the paper was founded. after which the publication was conducted by Mr. Kelley until 1862. My. Kelley was a practical printer and a fair reporter. He is now dead.

"O. H. Booth was one of the proprietors and editorial writers of the Mansfield Herald for several vears in the 70s. He was a printer and before coming to Mansfield had been engaged in newspaper work in Wooster. He was the manager of the Western Union Telegraph lines and gave but little time to the Herald. He is now deceased.

"The Mvers Brothers conducted the, Herald for a number of years, and made it a very readable paper. They were succeeded by the Harn Brothers. who are now out of the business. Harry Wilkinson was an able city editor of the Herald as Frank Ward was also of the Shield.

"Of the Foulk Brothers, who conducted the Liberal for several years, Henry is in the job printing business somewhere in the West and Charley is dead. George A. Holm was the manager of the Liberal for several years and is now in the job printing business.

"Hon. C. N. Gaumer, who so ably conducted the Shield for a number of years has retired from active newspaper work. He served his county faithfully in the legislature, and now holds several positions of honor and trust.

"The 'amenities' of the press were not always as serious nor as cordial as outsiders may have considered them to be, as the following instance will in part show: 'In the summer of 1880, as editor of the Mansfield Democrat, I became involved in a newspaper war with George U. Harn, of the Herald. During that controversy, Mr. Harn and I took a drive in my buggy out through Springfield township. We happened to meet one of his subscribers, who nearly fell off the seat of his wagon when he saw us together, laughing and talking in the most social manner. He had taken our quarrel seriously and imagined we were enemies. But where newspaper men are brought in daily contact with each other in business pursuits, their war of words should not be taken in too literal a sense.

"The boys in the office in those days often played tricks on the 'devil.' When the office of the Ohio Liberal was in the Mansfield Savings bank building, Frank Harding and Tray Harbaugh put up a job on Johnny Shaw who was then the Liberal's 'devil... They sent him to the Shield office with a wheelbarrow to borrow a nonpareil space. They told him that he must take the wheelbarrow into the office and up to Mr. Glessner's desk, so that he could see that he was prepared to give the 'space' safe conveyance. This Johnny did, and as he went rattling up the steps and over the floor, Myr. Glessner exclaimed: 'Ha. Ha, what does this mean?' Johnny stated his case and Mr. Glessner unbent from his dignity long enough to laugh at the joke, recalling the time when he had been a printer's 'devil.' A few days later the 'devil' from the Shield office went down to the Liberal office to borrow their italic shooting stick. But the 'devil' sometimes in after years becomes the manager of a newspaper and then can look back complacently at the tricks plaved upon him in his youth.

"The daily newspaper of to-day very fully covers the field which its name indicates - a newspaper. It has its finger tips on the public pulse of the nations, and the heart-beats of civilization are counted and the business of the world bulletined in its daily issues.

"Although the Shield was issued under one management for over forty vears under the Glessner regime, it has had several changes since Mr. Glessner's death. Some years after the sale of the plant to Mr. Gaumer, it was turned into a stock company and a daily edition issued in connection with the weekly. For a while Charles Grant Miller edited the paper, but it was finally drifted into a larger field, going from here to Memphis, Tennessee. where he became the editor of the Mercury. Mr. Miller's forte, however, was that of a writer rather than that of an editor. As a writer Mr. Miller had a metropolitan reputation.

"The next change in the management of the Shield was when W. T. Alberson, of Ashland. became its manager, but his management was not of long duration. The next was a Mr. MacMillan, a very capable man, but he remained not more than a year until he returned to Portsmouth where he later died.

"Following Mr. MacMillan's retirement, Mr. M. D. Frazier, of Zanesville, became the business: manager of the paper, with the Hoh. William Lawrence on the editorial tripod. Mr. Lawrence was a graduate of Kenyon college and came here at the close of his term as a state senator from the Muskingum district. Senator Lawrence was thoroughly conversant with public affairs and as an editorial writer he had but few equals and no superior in the land. Having been associated with Senator Lawrence in his editorial work for several years, the writer knows whereof he speaks concerning Mr. Lawrence's ability and adaptability for editorial work. He could write

"In 1885 the Hon. W. S. Cappeller came from Cincinnati to Mansfield and started the Mansfield Daily News, the first permanent daily newspaper founded in Mansfield. Later he purchased the Ohio Liberal, consolidated the plants and discontinued the Liberal. The News has grown with its years, owns its own building, has a fine equipment and is one of the leading county-seat papers in Ohio. Mr. Cappeller is now on his second term as postmaster of Mansfield."'

The Bench And Bar By Hon. C. E. Mcbride

In discussing my subject I propose to refer only to those whose records have been made up, and for whom the last entry has been placed on the journal, and the Court Crier has adjourned the term sine die. There has always existed more or less prejudice against the members of the legal profession. At times, they were barely tolerated, and some communities still regard them as a necessary evil to be carefully circumscribed. Perhaps they are controlled by the prejudice which exists in the uneducated mind of today. well illustrated in the remark of an Irishman who saw a tombstone with the inscription: 'Here lies the body of John Robinson, a lawyer and an honest man," and reflecting, observed '""A lawver and an honest man. I wonder what the two of them is doing in the one grave?"

Notwithstanding all the jibes and jeers that have been hurled at the bench and bar, they have and will continue to exercise a vast influence over the destinies of this nation. Our nation will resist time and survive decay. so long, and only so long, as a pure and independent bench and a fearless and patriotic bar remain to defend our liberties.

The bar of Richland county has been composed of many able and distinguished members. It has furnished several cabinet officers. several United States senators. several justices of the Supreme Court of Ohio and_ other states; and, while never having one of its members appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, it had one who was considered to be sufficiently worthy and who would have been appointed except for the fact that a political quarrel would have prevented his confirmation. It furnished the singular anomaly of father succeeding son as governor of the state. It has furnished governors of this and other states: and some of the distinguished ability in the suppression of the Rebellion. It has had an honorable career. Let us hope that when the mist which now seems to dim its lustre clears away, its course will be greater and better than ever before

The field which lay before the lawyers of the early days was far less extensive and far less lucrative than at present. Thousands of cases now crowd the dockets which could not have possibly arisen. No wealthy corporations existed, expending each year in lawyers' fees enough money to have paid the taxes of the four colonies of New England. Patent law and railroad law, the business of banks and insurance companies, express com- panies, telegraph companies and steamships, have given rise to legal questions of which the old lawyers had no conception whatever. A fee of twenty thousand dollars was unknown; a suit involving a million of dollars was unheard of. Yet the profession was not ill paid, and offered many incentives to bright young men. The law student of the early days usually began by offering his services to some lawyer of note, and, if they were accepted, paid a fee of a hundred dollars, and began to read law books, copy briefs, and sweep out and dust the office. Now a student would not think of keeping the office clean, and it scarcely comports with his dignity to run errands between the law office and the courthouse. In the course of two years he was expected to become familiar with Coke on Littleton, with Woods's Institutes of Civil Law, Blackstones' Commentaries, Chitty': Pleadings, and with some work on Chancery practice. This accomplished, his patron would take him into court. seat him at the lawyer's table, whisper to the gentlemen present. and. with their consent, would rise and ask leave of the Court to present a young man for the oath of an attorney.

The Court would ask if the bar consented. The lawyers would then bow. The patron would then vouch for the morals and learning of his young friend, and the oath would be administered by the clerk. This done, the new attorney would be introduced to the bar and carried off to the nearest tavern, where health and prosperity would be drank to him in bumpers of strong punch.

The early members of the bar were men of integrity and honor; men wedded to their profession and given to the practice of rigid honesty. They were men who have left their impress upon the history of our county and state as well as the nation and other states.

Under the constitution of 1802 the judiciary of Ohio was very differently composed than it is now. There was then no separate probate court The court of common pleas in each county was composed of a presiding judge. a lawyer, and three associate judges, lay men; and the associates as a rule gave attention to the probate business. They sat with the presiding judge at the sessions of the Court, and they were essentially a part of it, and sometimes they overruled him. This did not oceur very often. Where the associate judges were men of strong mental force and vigor, of fair education, of strong natural gifts, they regarded themselves as fully authorized to be fully consulted by the presiding judge on all questions before the Court.

The history of the associate bench of Richland county discloses the fact that, generally speaking, the associate judges were above the average of men.

The county was organized in 1813. The population in 1813 cannot be accurately given, but it was only a few hundred. In 1820, when the census was taken, it numbered 9,169.

The associate judges first commissioned were Thomas Coulter, William Gass and Peter Kenney. They were all men of high standing. Judge Coulter's descendants still live in the boundaries of the old county. William Gass was an historic figure - judge, member of the house, senator - his public services extend over a period of more than thirty years.

This was an action of trespass on the case for $1,000.00 damages for one hundred and one beef hides alleged to have been found by the defendant and converted to his own use, well knowing that they were the property of John Lougue. The action was begun on the 13th day of January, 1814, and tried soon thereafter by a jury of twelve men and resulted in a verdict of not guilty. C. R. Sherman was the attorney for the plaintiff and Curtis and Harper represented the defendant.

Recurring to the associate judges, they were all men ni Re the average in mental strength, native vigor, general intelligence and acquirements. One of these was in the congress of the United States from 1833 to 1837, and was always addressed as Judge Patterson. Judge Isaac Osborn, who graced the bench for fourteen years; James McCluer. who succeeded Gasz; Robert Beatty, Hugh Gamble, Benjamin Jackson, William S. Granger, Judge Andrews - most of these men were long-lived and attained the age of three score and ten; and they were honest men, and the ermine of the judges was not soiled by any of them.

Chew was a blacksmith by trade and a farmer. a man of stalwart frame and vigorous intellect, not given in his early life much education by the schools, but a remarkable man nevertheless. Every fiber of the man was a golden thread of integrity. Averse to litigation in his immediate neighborhood he was a great factor in keeping down local or neighborhood quarrels and litigation. He came to be the counselor of half the community in which he lived, reaching out beyond township lines. and his advice was so wise and just that he was in this respect a great benefactor to the old county.

Judge Chew has passed away. but his memory ought to be and is cherished as that of an honest man and able associate judge and a worthy citizen of the county. He was a Jacksonian Democrat politically.

Alexander Barr was a wholly different man physically. vet a man of broader education and quicker apprehension than Judge Chew. He was the village schoolmaster of Mansfield. a colonel in the Ohio militia. It is said of him that he was capable of teaching the higher branches in mathematics. and taught practical surveying and that his penmanship was like copper plating. He removed to a farm and while a farmer was elected an associate judge. He was honest, able and worthy, and his useful life is the heritage of many of the sons and daughters of the old county. On the bench he was not so vigorous as Chew, vet his mind was more active and alert. If differences existed between the presiding judge and the associates. Chew was the man influential, though less able to formulate the expression of their dissent.

The last of this old associate bench was David McCullough. of Mansfield, with less education than either Chew or Barr, yet a more intimate acquaintance with the world. He was for years the village tailor, tasty, neat in all things and a willing. hearty helper of his fellow men. McCullough, on the bench, was apt to rely on his associates and the presiding judge more than on any judgment he would frame himself, yet on questions where he believed the right was suffering defeat, he was strong and determined. Physically, he was much smaller than Chew or Barr. He was also a military man, and at one time was captain of "The Mansfield Blues,'' an independent company organized by Mansfield's first soldier and West Point graduate, the late General Samuel R. Curtis. Judge McCullough was a Democrat in his early days, but in time became a Republican, and served for a term as county treasurer.

The old bench, the associate judges of Ohio, are a thing of the past. They went out with the adoption of the Constitution of 1851. Did the new Constitution improve the system? This has been a mooted question. This much must be said, the first judiciary of Ohio under the Constitution of 1802 was less expensive, and with the increased population of Ohio would have continued to be less expensive to the state and the people. It has been said that '"'the first judical system was founded for the people; the second for the bar rather than the common people."

The present Constitution of Ohio was formulated by a constitutional convention which closed its labors on the 10th day of March, 1851. Samuel J. Kirkwood and Dr. James P. Henderson represented Richland county in this convention. All judges were made elective by this Constitution. Under the Constitution of 1802, the judges were appointed by a joint ballot of both houses of the general assembly. The change from appointment to election was a radical one and one that I do not believe was an improvement. I believe an appointive judiciary will come nearer dealing out equal and exact justice than one where the judges must get down into the mud and slime of politics in order to wear the judicial Ermine. Under the Constitution of 1851 the counties ot Licking, Knox and Delaware formed the first sub-division of the Sixth Judicial District; the counties of Morrow, Richland and Ashland the second subdivision, and the counties of Wayne, Holmes and Coshocton the third subdivision, and this district and their sub-divisions remain to this day.

After the Constitution had been ratified by the people the following were elected as the first judges in each of these sub-divisions: In the first subdivision, Rollin C. Hurd. of Knox county; in the second sub-division, James Stewart, of Richland county: in the third sub-division, Martin Welker, of Holmes county. The manner and the integrity and the ability with which these judges discharged all the duties and performed all the functions of the bench assured the people that a mistake had not been made in their choice.